McRaven, who's served as the command's chief since Aug. 8, 2011, has been
named as the next chancellor of the University of Texas. Votel most recently
served as commander of Joint Special Operations Command.
A full account of McRaven's career has yet to be written, Hagel said in his
prepared remarks. "When it is, it will have to be heavily redacted," he joked.
"But his legacy in the special operations community is already secure. He is
a warrior-leader that generations of special operators from across the branches
of service will strive to emulate," Hagel said.

Career milestones
McRaven (seen in his official DoD photo above) has been deeply intertwined with the history of special operations in
this country, the defense secretary said.
"He helped establish and was in the first graduating class of the Special
Operations/Low Intensity Conflict curriculum at the Naval Postgraduate School,"
Hagel said of McRaven.

"He literally wrote the book on special operations -- I'm
told that his graduate school thesis at one point outranked even Clausewitz on
Amazon's list of military strategy bestsellers.
"As the commander for special operations in Europe, he was the driving force
behind the creation of the NATO Special Operations Forces Coordination Centre,"
the defense secretary continued, "and under his leadership, the Joint Special
Operations Command carried out perhaps the most important mission in their
history -- hunting down and killing Osama bin Laden."

Socom's transition

McRaven led the special operations community as it transitioned from the era
of post-9/11 conflicts and into confronting the next generation of dynamic,
dispersed, and networked challenges, Hagel said.
"Special operators have long been the vanguard of our military's global
engagement, epitomizing the kind of far-reaching work that our military will be
called upon to do in the future," the defense secretary said.
"What special operators do every day not only helps make America safer, it
also directly contradicts the uninformed and false narrative that the United
States is pulling back from the world,"

Hagel said.
Special operations forces deployed into more than 150 countries under
McRaven's command, he noted.
"In fact, Socom and the entire U.S. military are more engaged internationally
than ever before -- in more places and with a wider variety of missions," the
defense secretary added.

Special operations missions under McRaven included delivering life-saving
relief after Typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines in 2013, Hagel said.
"They helped Peruvian forces successfully target two senior members of the
Shining Path rebel group. They're working with African partners to help counter
the terrorist activities of Boko Haram," he said.

In Iraq, special operations
forces are helping strengthen Iraqi security forces in their fight against
terrorist forces from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, the defense
secretary noted.
"And in Eastern Europe, they are reinforcing NATO allies in light of Russian
aggression in Ukraine," he said.
A more agile force

During his time in command, McRaven organized Socom's forces to be more
agile, flexible and responsive, Hagel said.
"He has better integrated Socom with the geographic combatant commands, and
issued the first-ever Global Campaign Plan for Special Operations," he said. "He
has deepened our relationships abroad, working more closely with allies and
partners to better anticipate and counter threats.
"

As a testament to the growing demand for special operators," the defense
secretary continued, "Socom has grown by almost 8,000 people over the past three
years -- and its growth will continue even as other parts of our military draw
down.".
Repeated deployments have dealt the special operations community a heavy
burden, Hagel said, but McRaven and his wife Georgeann have worked tirelessly to
help alleviate some of the strain.
"[McRaven] established initiatives to address the physical and mental
well-being of his force, offer support to family members, and provide more
predictability on deployments.

He modified Socom's definition of readiness to
include families as a vital part of the equation, something the entire
Department of Defense can learn from," he said.
And Georgeann has been a consistent advocate for special operations families,
personally supporting many of these important initiatives, the defense secretary
said.
"The McRavens live by the [special operations] community's saying ... 'Our
people are more important than our hardware,'" Hagel added.

Incoming commander

Votel is a worthy successor to McRaven, the defense secretary said. "[His]
quiet, decisive leadership -- combining both operational and strategic expertise
-- is precisely what this command will need as we confront the next generation
of threats to our national security," Hagel said.

Both men know that an institution is only as strong as its people, Hagel said
before thanking the special operations community for their sacrifices,
particularly over the past 13 years.
"Your skill, your agility and your dedication are what make you so often the
force of choice for our highest priority missions," the defense secretary said.
"And a special thank-you to your families, who make untold sacrifices and never
get the amount of recognition and appreciation they deserve."

"In a complicated and combustible world, this community is a precious
national asset," Hagel said. "All Americans are inspired by your strength,
determination, and devotion to duty."

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Paul Davis is a writer who covers crime. He has written extensively about organized crime, street crime, sex crime, cyber crime, drug crime, white collar crime, crime fiction, crime prevention, espionage and terrorism. He is an online columnist and contributing editor to The Journal of Counterterrorism & Homeland Security International and a regular contributor to the Washington Times. His work has also appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Philadelphia Daily News and other print and online publications. Paul Davis has been a student of crime since he was a 12-year-old aspiring writer growing up in South Philadelphia. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy when he was 17 in 1970 and served on the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk during the Vietnam War. He also served two years on the Navy harbor tugboat USS Saugus at the U.S. nuclear submarine base at Holy Loch, Scotland. He went on to do security work as a Defense Department civilian employee and then became a freelance writer. You can read Paul Davis' Crime Beat columns, crime fiction and magazine and newspaper pieces on this website. You can also read his full bio by clicking on the above photo.